A small imperial lordship of castles on the hills between the upper Tiber and Arezzo's Val Cerfone, west of Città di Castello, held by a house that claimed descent from the marquesses of Tuscany and kept the castle of Monte Santa Maria as an imperial fief into modern times.
Its holder in 1200 is not pinned.
Who he is
- Name
- Not pinned (the first marquis named by it.wikipedia is Guido di Montemigiano from 1250)
- Title
- Marquesses of Monte Santa Maria
- Family
- The del Monte (later Bourbon del Monte), imperial vassals since the eleventh century
- Confidence
- low
Overlord
The emperor (an imperial fief, by the family's later tradition)
What it holds
- Monte Santa Maria and its hill castles (Lippiano and others; not pinned for 1200)
How it was acquired
Imperial fief by the family's tradition (eleventh century).
Allies and rivals
Neighbours: Città di Castello, Arezzo, the counts of Montauto (the Northern Italy map).
How things stand that morning
Holding of the empire, as far as the evidence goes; nothing dated.
Wealth
Hill castles and pasture.
Military
Castles.
Threats
- Città di Castello
- Arezzo
- Perugia
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: it.wikipedia gives only the family's imperial tenure from the eleventh century and a marquis from 1250.
On the map: Drawn on the modern comune; the family's holding in 1200 is not pinned.
Primary sources for Empire
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Annals of Marbach (compiled to 1238, the section on 1198 to 1210 written in the early 13th century). Alsatian annals on the Staufen side of the Upper Rhine. Read online
- Annals of Reiner of Saint James, Liège, Reiner of Liège (1197 to 1230, kept year by year). Contemporary annals kept inside Liège. Read online
- Chronicle of Burchard of Ursberg, Burchard of Ursberg (about 1229 to 1230, reworked by Conrad of Lichtenau). Written a generation later by a fierce partisan of the Staufen and a critic of Innocent III. Read online
- Chronicle of Otto of St Blasien, Otto of St Blasien (about 1209 to 1210). A Swabian continuation of Otto of Freising written from the Staufen side. Read online
- Chronicle of Reinhardsbrunn; Chronicle of St Peter's, Erfurt (Erfurt chronicle in the 13th century; Reinhardsbrunn compilation about 1340 to 1349 from older annals). The two Thuringian chronicles. Read online
- Chronicle of the Slavs, by Arnold of Lübeck, Arnold of Lübeck (about 1209 to 1210). Arnold continues Helmold and writes from Lübeck, close to Danish, Welf and Baltic affairs. Read online
- Royal Chronicle of Cologne (in stages from about 1175 to about 1250; the section on 1198 to 1220 written soon after the events). The fullest German narrative of the throne war from the Welf and Cologne side. Read online
- Chronicle of Hainaut, Gislebert of Mons (about 1195 to 1196). Ends in 1195, so it has no 1200 entries, but it is the indispensable background for Flanders and Hainaut: the career of Count Baldwin V of Hainaut (VIII of Flanders), his union of the two counties, the settlement with Philip over Artois, the rights, castles, fiefs and vassals of Hainaut listed by a man who ran its chancery, and the youth of Baldwin IX, who held both counties in 1200. Read online
8 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.